Embracing Digital Innovation in the Rental Housing Industry

If you have an idea to spread, Seth Godin believes you’re a marketer. All Marketers Are Liars offers a fresh take on marketing—one that focuses on connecting with your customer, rather than on catchy advertising jingles or gimmicks. Godin defines marketing as telling consumers a great story about your product, your political campaign, your job experience, or even just yourself. This book explores new marketing concepts that you can use to tell a better story in any area of your life.

In this guide, we’ll explore Godin’s ideas on marketing, authenticity, and telling a great story. We’ll also discuss how to understand your customer and common obstacles you’ll encounter in your marketing. Along the way, we’ll give context on his definitions and provide actionable tips from other marketing experts.

Loyal customers aren’t enough. No matter the industry, it’s critical to turn your customers into “Raving Fans” to grow your business. In this fable, a newly hired Area Manager’s plans to focus on quality are upended when told by the President of the company to instead prioritize customer service, the foundation of every strong business. The ill-equipped Area Manager worries that, like his three predecessors, he will quickly fail at this task and lose his position. Miraculously, his Fairy Godmother appears to teach him the three simple but powerful secrets to deliver outstanding customer service.

In this guide, we explore the principles of outstanding customer service in detail and show you how to apply them—we’ve deconstructed the steps and created a range of exercises to help you transform your customers into “Raving Fans.”

Is it possible to know for a fact how successful a new product will be before you take it to market? According to business academic Clayton Christensen, the answer is yes. In Competing Against Luck, Christensen offers a conceptual framework for analyzing consumer demand and guiding product innovation. He explains that every time consumers make a purchase, they’re trying to accomplish one specific task. Knowing this, you can design and sell a product that can’t possibly fail because it fits that task perfectly.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Christensen’s framework to create profitable innovations and make savvier business decisions. We’ll discuss how to glean valuable insights from customer interviews and inspire workers to make better decisions without direct oversight. We’ll include product design tips from books like Inspired and All Marketers Are Liars. We’ll also offer counterpoints to Christensen’s ideas from books like High Output Management and First, Break All the Rules.

Imagine commuting to work in a flying ride-share car, having your clothes 3D printed, or grilling a lab-grown steak. These might sound like scenes from a science fiction movie, but what if these technologies we think are decades away are actually right around the corner? In The Future Is Faster Than You Think, Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler argue that the future is accelerating toward us because exponential technologies—those developing at increasingly faster rates—are starting to merge, leading to innovations and breakthroughs at unprecedented speeds. The authors predict that by 2030, a blend of these exponential technologies could transform major industries and reshape our lives.

In this guide, we’ll discuss why change and technological progress are occurring at breakneck speed. We’ll then explore the authors’ predictions on how cutting-edge technologies will revolutionize the ways we live and work—from how we learn to how we grow food. Since the book was published in 2020, we’ll provide updates to the authors’ predictions and share additional insights from other experts on how technology trends are shaping our future.

Join Lex Fridman as he welcomes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to an enlightening edition of the Lex Fridman Podcast. Dive into a future painted by the strokes of virtual reality and the sweeping promise of digital realms. The conversation threads through the intricacies of Kodak Avatars that echo our human expressions with astonishing precision, allowing an unprecedented level of emotional immersion in the Metaverse. Zuckerberg offers a glimpse into the future, where a simple scan from our mobile phones might create photorealistic avatars, transforming the landscape of online engagement.

As the chat ventures further, discover the edge of innovation with the Quest 3 headset, set to redefine mixed reality with its superior visual capabilities and groundbreaking comfort. Zuckerberg and Fridman examine how these technologies will blur the line between the digital and physical worlds, enriching user experience. Delve into the ethical conundrums and behavioral norms of these virtual worlds as they contemplate AI's role in crafting these experiences. The discussion leaves us anticipating a future where AI doesn't just mimic reality, but coherently weaves into the fabric of our daily lives, making the notion of digital legacies and enhanced connectivity more than just a fantasy.

The Challenger Sale upends the conventional wisdom that building relationships with customers is the key to sales success. Instead, they contend, the best salespeople take control of the sale by challenging customers’ thinking with new insights and pushing back instead of giving in to customer demands. While there are five distinct types of sales reps, it's these so-called Challengers who consistently excel in selling the complex business-to-business solutions required in today’s business world. Based on a massive study of thousands of sales reps worldwide, the authors uncover the skills and behaviors that drive Challengers’ performance and explain how to replicate them in any sales force.

Want to motivate your employees and teammates to do a better job? Does your team seem unhappy, unmotivated, and distrustful of your organization?

In Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work, Paul Marciano argues that engagement stems from respect. Employees don’t want to be treated like cogs in a chain. Instead, they want to feel empowered, have autonomy, receive supportive feedback, and be treated considerately. Learn what components of work people really want, and simple actions to take today to engage your team.

Transitioning into a leadership role is a time of excitement and uncertainty. According to leadership development consultant Michael Watkins, whether you thrive or falter in your new role depends on your actions early on. In The First 90 Days, Watkins provides a roadmap for making your job transition smooth and rewarding. You’ll learn how to avoid common pitfalls by gathering critical information, building strong relationships, and achieving initial successes. If you follow Watkins's advice, you’ll be ready to ease into your new role with confidence and start creating positive momentum for your career and your company.

In this guide, we’ll review Watkins's guidelines on quickly assimilating and making an impact in your new role. We’ll also consider how other business leaders’ perspectives on management compare with Watkins's—including ideas from Gino Wickman in Traction and Julie Zhuo in The Making of a Manager.